State lawmakers: Locals vote first on Rock Island courthouse

SPRINGFIELD — If Rock Island is going to build a new county courthouse, local voters, not state lawmakers, are going to have to give the go ahead.

Legislation that would have allowed Rock Island County to move ahead on its own and replace the county’s aging courthouse has been scuttled in Springfield.

State Rep. Pat Verschoore, D-Milan, introduced the idea with the backing of Rock Island County leaders. The county’s Chairman Jim Bohnsack and Chief Judge Jeffery O’Connor both made the trip to Springfield to drum-up support for the idea, but ran into a number of lawmakers unwilling to bypass voters.

Technically Verschoore’s legislation is “being held” at the statehouse. But after it failed to get enough support on Thursday to clear its first hurdle, it is unlikely that it will get a second chance or a second vote.

Originally reported by Illinois Statehouse News. Read the original article here.